crab volleyball

Kids love balloons. I mean they really love them. Every single time I take out my bag of balloons, their faces light up. 

In crab volleyball they get to kick a balloon into the air, trying not to let it touch the ground. This crab crawl gets the kids in a position that strengthens their wrists, triceps and shoulders, engages their core and opens their chests. I also like to use the crab crawl when going from one obstacle to another in an obstacle course.

If the kids are doing a great job keeping the ball up and sharing turns kicking the balloon, I like to add a second balloon into the mix. The crab crawl is my favorite way to play, but sometimes it can be too much on the wrists. After we have all agreed that our wrists are tired, we gently roll our wrists and, if they want to keep playing with the balloon, we do it standing in tree pose, or maybe frog jumps. I have had them stand with hands at heart center and they need to raise their leg, keeping the leg straight, to pop the ball up with their toes. Really they can do anything to keep the ball from touching the ground. 

Just turn up some fun music and let them play!